Easy Tamale Pie: Low Carb Mexican Recipe

When you’re hungry for Mexican food but you are following a low carb lifestyle you need this easy tamale pie! Seasoned ground beef and black olives are topped with a gooey cheese layer. Finally, a layer of spicy, Southwestern biscuit dough goes on top. Combat those serious Tex-Mex cravings without blowing your carb allotment for the month! Comfort food has never been more guiltless.

I can never get enough Tex-Mex! I love all of the flavors from the earthy cumin to the explosion of heat from chipotle. Whether I’m dipping chips in salsa or licking mole of my fingers… I LOVE Tex-Mex!

But carbs.

Everything I love has carbs. So for me the trick is always to figure out a way to get the flavor without those pesky annoyances! Basic Mexican food really doesn’t have carbs until you start adding the tortillas, beans, and rice. The sauces are pretty fresh and low carb for the most part. Meats and vegetables are usually grilled. So, when you think about it, it’s mainly the tortillas that cause the problem.

But dang, what else are you going to dip in the salsa? Fingers?

So, if I ever wanted to eat Mexican food again I had to learn to remove the carbs — like in this easy tamale pie!

Always Experience Local Flavors

Several years ago my husband and I went on a cruise that took us down the Mexican and Central American coastlines. It was my first real vacation since I was a kid and my first cruise so I was over the top excited. We stopped in Cozumel or somewhere and I was determined to eat “local” food. We walked around until we found an open air cafe that overlooked the ocean. The glittering sand looked like it had been bleached it was so white. The ocean was the bluest blue I had ever seen and when those azure waves exploded onto the shoreline it was spectacular. All of the colors were vibrant and the whole scene came together like the most vivid kaleidoscope you can imagine.

Anyway, there we were, sitting in the cafe with a soft breeze fluttering through and musicians playing music nearby. It was so very romantic that I imagined that I was Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. I was trying very hard to look sophisticated and chic. The server brought over a big bowl of tortilla chips and a small bowl of very thick queso. My husband and I were chatting away, looking into eachother’s eyes… you know. It was one of those moments.

I languidly dipped a chip in the queso and popped it into my mouth.

Hell Hath No Fury…

And all of a sudden the terrifying Hell of the Bible was relocated to my mouth and throat. There was fire, there was brimstone, and there were the screams and groans of the cursed.

Wait. That was me. The screams and groans were me.

You see, the queso was not actually queso. Apparently there is a specialty of the area that is made from slow cooked habeneros. They are slowly cooked over a long period of time until they turn into a bright orange paste. A bright orange paste that looks a lot like thick queso.

You’ve been warned. Always ask.

Anyway, this low carb, super easy tamale pie recipe has no habeneros in it. None at all. Lean ground beef, gooey cheese, salsa verde, and a biscuity topping that seems very much like cornbread but it’s not. It’s got all of the flavor and you can make it more spicy by adding a few jalapenos if you like.

I make this recipe in a microwave. Remember, I am cooking just for me when it comes to low carb recipes. The microwave is handy and it’s also fast. If you prefer you can make this in a small, oven safe casserole dish. Bake it at 375 for about 15 minutes — just until the biscuit part is done.

Used in this Recipe

The following are affiliate links. If you click through and buy something I will get a small commission used for keeping the blog up and running smoothly. Thank you for being a part of Lowcarb-ology!

Flaxseed meal helps hold the dough together and it has 0 net carbs! Good stuff! The 2 cup size Pyrex food containers are microwave safe and they come in real handy for food prep!